That night.
The moon was dark, the wind high.
In the void, fierce astral winds howled.
Gu Qingfeng sat atop the clouds, a man in white robes seated upon the firmament. Around him shimmered a faint, dark crimson glow. This dark crimson exuded an aura of evil—a terrifying evil that burned wantonly like flames, dyeing the night sky with a layer of scarlet as it burned.
The scarlet light transformed endlessly, like a series of bizarre images alternating and evolving.
Within the images, it was as if a ferocious Asura waved its arms, tearing apart the heavens and trampling the earth.
Then it was like ten thousand demons kneeling in unison, paying homage to something.
In another moment, it resembled a raging sea of blood, filled with sinister white bones everywhere, like a purgatory.
The scarlet scenes were extremely eerie, sending chills down one's spine.
Back in the Black-Raven Secret Realm, after Demoness Man Tu Fan left, he hadn't lingered either, departing swiftly.
Because he too felt his mind and spirit were somewhat disordered.
And what caused this mental turmoil was his own soul, which had been sealed away for a long time.
As for why this situation occurred,
Gu Qingfeng did not know.
Nor did he have time to ponder it. He left immediately, then soared into the clouds to suppress his soul.
His soul was extraordinary.
To be precise, it was too evil—so evil that he had no choice but to seal it away.
Speaking of his own soul, Gu Qingfeng felt both headache and helplessness, and also deep regret.
He regretted that in his youth, he had been too impulsive and hot-headed, ultimately bringing about such dire consequences.
Back then, after ascending to the Nine Nethers Emperor's throne, he had been viewed as a thorn in the side by both Immortals and Demons. Every three days a minor Judgment, every six days a major Judgment. If it were only Immortals and Demons, he wouldn't have feared them. The key was that the Heavenly Dao also got involved, and in one fell swoop, subjected him to endless Judgment.
What is endless Judgment?
It is Judgment without end.
Judgment that occurs every moment, never ceasing.
Relying on his own formidable strength, Gu Qingfeng stubbornly endured these countless Judgments for a very long time. Finally, with no way out and in a fit of rage, he leaped into Avici Hell.
Both Avici Hell and the Endless Barrens are among the nine famous forbidden lands between heaven and earth.
The Endless Barrens suppresses Demon Ancestors from ancient times to the present who have slaughtered Gods—beings like Xingtian, Jiangchen, Shentu, and even Chiyou...
As for what lies within Avici Hell, no one knows.
Because no one dares to enter, and those who have entered have never emerged alive.
Back then, Gu Qingfeng was also driven to desperation by the Judgments of Immortals, Demons, and the Heavenly Dao, forced to leap into Avici Hell. Legend has it that places like the Endless Barrens and Avici Purgatory exist outside heaven and earth. In other words, the Old Man Heaven's Judgments cannot reach them. If not for this, peerless old demons like Chiyou and Xingtian wouldn't have hidden in the Endless Barrens.
Gu Qingfeng didn't know where the Endless Barrens was, so he could only settle for the next best option and jump into Avici Hell.
After leaping in, it was indeed as the legends said—all Judgments, whether from the Immortal Dao, Monster Dao, or Heavenly Dao, vanished.
And what surprised Gu Qingfeng even more was that Avici Hell wasn't as terrifying as he had imagined.
There was nothing inside.
Truly, there was nothing.
A vast darkness.
Not even space existed; even time was still within.
Thus, Gu Qingfeng didn't know how long he stayed inside. He wanted to leave, but didn't know how. He tried many methods, exerted all his abilities, yet still couldn't depart.
He simply remained there.
Without time, without the passage of years.
Just staying there.
At first, it was fine. Later, his mental state began to change, his consciousness grew disordered, his spirit began to collapse, his mind started to scatter...
Later still, he went Mad Demon...
That Mad Demon state was a madness of the soul.
As for how he later left Avici Hell, Gu Qingfeng didn't know and couldn't remember...
He didn't even know he had gone Mad Demon.
He only knew that when his consciousness returned, he was already outside. The matter of his Mad Demon state was told to him by the old monk residing within the Nirvana Bone Jade.
He said that after his soul went Mad Demon in Avici Hell, it transformed into an Avici Spirit, a soul of the endless void—the legendary Asura.
Gu Qingfeng had once read records of Asuras in ancient texts.
It said this thing was the True Lord of Demons.
Since the beginning of heaven and earth, seven or eight Asuras had appeared throughout history, and without exception, all were jointly Judged to death by the Three Thousand Great Daos.
Gu Qingfeng was already burdened with a body of sin. If he were to transform into an Asura on top of that, then things would really blow up. So after awakening, he sealed away his own soul. He had no desire to become an Asura, nor to be Judged by the Three Thousand Great Daos.
Now.
He sat atop the clouds, his expression grave, hands pressed together in prayer, reciting scriptures: "Great Purity, Great Prajna, Immeasurable Free Mind, Nirvana begets No-Self, My Buddha subdues True Demons, 'A' means none, 'Bi' means between, Avici Spirit, Endless Soul, Body of Sin, Free Mind..." This was the Prajna Great Purity Mantra, one of Buddhism's top purification mantras, used to purify the mind.
Although Gu Qingfeng held no fondness for Buddhism, he had to admit that Buddhist Dharma was truly the bane of all demons.
As he chanted the Prajna Great Purity Mantra, the dark crimson radiance around him grew fainter and fainter, until it disappeared bit by bit. Only then did the stone hanging in Gu Qingfeng's heart gradually settle.
However.
What puzzled him was why, upon encountering Demoness Man Tu Fan in the Black-Raven Secret Realm, he felt a sense of familiarity.
And why did this feeling inexplicably cause his sealed soul to stir?
Could it be that some so-called Karma existed between him and Man Tu Fan?
If so,
what kind of Karma was it?
Unclear.
And impossible to figure out.
He had never understood matters of Karma. Moreover, after experiencing the incident with Yun Nishang, not only did he not understand, but he grew even more bewildered.
Especially since he had recently heard that woman, the Decree of Original Sin, mention the Karmic Black Hole.
She said that after the Great Calamity, a Karmic Black Hole had appeared between heaven and earth.
And this Karmic Black Hole had already drawn over a dozen Karmic Chains into it, one of which was his own Karma.
The Karmic Black Hole was absolutely the most terrifying existence between heaven and earth.
The entangled Karmic Chains would become intertwined and chaotic. When that happened, all sorts of disordered Karma would emerge one after another. The terrifying consequences were unimaginable.
One must know that the Three Thousand Great Daos are all within Karma. And each Karmic Chain might involve anyone—perhaps even a Lord of a Great Dao. Imagine if the Karmic Chain of a Lord of a Great Dao were also drawn into the Karmic Black Hole, eventually intertwining with other Karmic Chains...
Moreover, according to that woman, the Decree of Original Sin, some from their Original Sin faction had also been drawn into this Karmic Black Hole. When that time came, damn it all, no one would be able to make sense of anything.
If what that woman, the Decree of Original Sin, said was true, this matter really gave Gu Qingfeng a bit of a headache.
It was true that he enjoyed watching the show, especially the drama surrounding those Lords of the Great Daos—it was truly entertaining.
But enjoyment was one thing.
He only liked to watch; he had no desire to get involved.